today.nukz.net: Almanac July 3

Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was an influential German-language author of novels and short stories. Critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as among the greatest writers of the 20th century. The term "Kafkaesque" has become part of the English language.

Kafka was born to middle class, German-speaking, Jewish parents, in Prague, Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The house in which he was born, on the Old Town Square next to Prague's Church of St Nicholas, now contains a permanent exhibition devoted to the author.

Most of Kafka's writing, including the large body of his unfinished work, was published posthumously.

Events

324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France till the French Revolution in 1792.
1608 – Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.
1767 – Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret.
1767 – Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces kill 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre.
1819 – The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens.
1839 – The first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today's Framingham State College, opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with 3 students.
1844 – The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
1848 – Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans.
1849 – The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification.
1852 – Congress establishes the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco, California.
1863 – American Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett's Charge.
1866 – Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.
1884 – Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average.
1886 – Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile.
1886 – The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.
1890 – Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
1898 – Spanish-American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.
1913 – Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.
1938 – World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h).
1938 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.
1940 – World War II: the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers el Kébir, is bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish.
1944 – World War II: Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration.
1952 – The Constitution of Puerto Rico is approved by the Congress of the United States.
1952 – The SS United States sets sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During the voyage, the ship takes the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary.
1962 – The Algerian War of Independence against the French ends.
1969 – The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N-1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad.
1970 – The Troubles: the "Falls Curfew" begins in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1979 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
1988 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus.
1994 – The deadliest day in Texas traffic history, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Forty-six people are killed in crashes.
1996 – Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland.
2001 – A Vladivostok Avia Tupolev Tu-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145 people.
2005 – Same-sex marriage in Spain becomes legal.
2006 – Valencia metro accident leaves 43 dead in Valencia, Spain.

Births

1423 – King Louis XI of France (d. 1483)
1442 – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1500)
1518 – Li Shizhen, Chinese physician (d. 1593)
1530 – Claude Fauchet, French historian (d. 1601)
1590 – Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana, Italian singer, organist, and composer (d. 1662)
1676 – Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal (d. 1747)
1683 – Edward Young, English poet (d. 1765)
1685 – Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, British cavalry officer (d. 1768)
1728 – Robert Adam, Scottish architect (d. 1792)
1738 – John Singleton Copley, American painter (d. 1815)
1743 – Sophia Magdalena of Denmark, queen consort of Sweden (d. 1813)
1851 – Charles Bannerman, Australian cricketer (d. 1930)
1854 – Leoš Janácek, Czech composer (d. 1928)
1866 – Albert Gottschalk, Danish painter (d. 1907)
1870 – Richard Bedford Bennett, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1947)
1875 – Ferdinand Sauerbruch, German surgeon (d. 1951)
1876 – Ralph Barton Perry, American philosopher (d. 1957)
1878 – George M. Cohan, American actor, director, singer and dancer (d. 1942)
1879 – Alfred Korzybski, Polish linguist (d. 1950)
1880 – Carl Schuricht, Polish-born German conductor (d. 1967)
1883 – Franz Kafka, Czech-German writer (d. 1924)
1886 – Raymond A. Spruance, American Navy admiral (d. 1969)
1888 – Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Spanish writer (d. 1963)
1893 – Sándor Bortnyik, Hungarian painter and graphic designer (d. 1976)
1893 – Mississippi John Hurt, country blues singer and guitarist (d. 1966)
1900 – Alessandro Blasetti, Italian film director (d. 1987)
1901 – Ruth Crawford Seeger, American composer and an American folk music specialist (d. 1953)
1903 – Ace Bailey, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1992)
1906 – Jack Earle, American actor and sideshow performer (d. 1952)
1906 – George Sanders, British actor (d. 1972)
1908 – M. F. K. Fisher, American writer (d. 1992)
1908 – Robert B. Meyner, American politician (d. 1990)
1910 – Fritz Kasparek, Austrian mountaineer (d. 1954)
1913 – Dorothy Kilgallen, American columnist (d. 1965)
1916 – John Kundla, American college and professional basketball coach
1917 – João Saldanha, Brazilian journalist and football manager (d. 1990)
1918 – S. V. Ranga Rao, South Indian actor (Telugu Cinema Actor) (d. 1974)
1920 – Paul O'Dea, American baseball player (d. 1978)
1921 – Susan Peters, American actress (d. 1952)
1922 – Guillaume Cornelis van Beverloo, Belgian painter, called Corneille (d. 2010)
1924 – S. R. Nathan, 6th president of Singapore
1926 – Johnny Coles, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1997)
1927 – Ken Russell, British director (d. 2011)
1928 – Roger Horchow, American entrepreneur and Broadway producer
1930 – Pete Fountain, American clarinetist
1930 – Carlos Kleiber, Austrian conductor (d. 2004)
1930 – Tommy Tedesco, American musician (d. 1997)
1931 – Frits Helmuth, Danish actor (d. 2004)
1932 – Richard Mellon Scaife, American newspaper publisher
1933 – Edward Brandt, American doctor and public health official (d. 2007)
1935 – Harrison Schmitt, American astronaut and politician
1936 – Baard Owe, Norwegian-born Danish actor
1937 – Tom Stoppard, Czech-born, British playwright
1938 – Bolo Yeung, Hong Kong actor
1939 – Brigitte Fassbaender, German mezzo-soprano
1939 – László Kovács, Hungarian politician and diplomat
1940 – Lamar Alexander, American politician
1940 – Fontella Bass, American soul singer
1940 – Jerzy Buzek, Prime Minister of Poland
1940 – César Tovar, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1994)
1941 – Gloria Allred, American Attorney
1942 – Eddy Mitchell, French singer and actor
1942 – Paco Stanley, Mexican TV personality (d. 1999)
1943 – Judith Durham, Australian singer-songwriter
1943 – Kurtwood Smith, American actor
1944 – Michel Polnareff, French singer and songwriter
1945 – Michael Cole, American TV actor
1945 – Saharon Shelah, Israeli mathematician
1946 – Johnny Lee, American country-and-western singer
1946 – Leszek Miller, Prime Minister of Poland
1947 – Dave Barry, American humorist and author
1947 – Betty Buckley, American actress
1947 – Anthony "Top" Topham, English musician
1948 – Tarmo Koivisto, Finnish comics artist
1948 – Paul Barrere, American guitarist & songwriter (Little Feat)
1949 – Jan Smithers, American actress
1949 – Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American singer (Heatwave) (d. 2006)
1950 – James Hahn, American politician
1950 – Ewen Chatfield, New Zealand cricketer
1951 – Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
1951 – Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian politician
1952 – Amit Kumar, Indian singer
1952 – Andy Fraser, English songwriter and bass guitarist
1952 – Rohinton Mistry, Indian-born Canadian writer in English
1955 – Sanma Akashiya, Japanese television performer
1956 – Montel Williams, American talk show host
1956 – Don Vito, American Viva La Bam castmember
1957 – Laura Branigan, American singer (d. 2004)
1957 – Ken Ober, American game show host (d. 2009)
1958 – Matthew Fraser, Canadian-British journalist
1958 – Charlie Higson, English author and actor
1958 – Siân Lloyd, Welsh weather presenter
1958 – Didier Mouron, Swiss artist
1958 – Aaron Tippin, American singer
1959 – Julie Burchill, British journalist and author
1959 – Stephen Pearcy, American singer (Ratt)
1959 – David Shore, Canadian-born writer
1960 – Vince Clarke, British songwriter (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure)
1961 – Pedro Romeiras, Portuguese dancer
1961 – Tim Smith, English musician (Cardiacs)
1962 – Tom Cruise, American actor
1962 – Hunter Tylo, American actress
1962 – Thomas Gibson, American actor
1962 – Hugh Page, former South African cricketer
1963 – Tracey Emin, British artist
1964 – Joanne Harris, British author
1964 – Yeardley Smith, French-born American actress
1965 – Shinya Hashimoto, Japanese wrestler (d. 2005)
1965 – Connie Nielsen, Danish actress
1966 – Moisés Alou, Dominican baseball player
1966 – Robin Burgener, Canadian programmer, inventor of 20Q
1967 – Brian Cashman, American major league baseball executive
1967 – Spiros Marangos, Greek footballer
1968 – Aku Louhimies, Finnish film director and screenwriter
1969 – Kevin Hearn, Canadian musician (Barenaked Ladies)
1970 – Audra McDonald, American actress and singer
1970 – Teemu Selänne, Finnish ice hockey player
1970 – Shawnee Smith, American actress
1970 – Serhiy Honchar, Ukrainian cyclist
1971 – Julian Assange, Australian journalist, publisher and Internet activist
1972 – Warren Furman, British television personality
1973 – Johnny Terris, Canadian actor and director
1973 – Patrick Wilson, American actor
1973 – Emma Cunniffe, British actress
1973 – Ólafur Stefánsson, Icelandic handball player
1976 – Andrea Barber, American actress
1976 – Wade Belak, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
1976 – Henry Olonga, Zimbabwean cricketer
1976 – Shane Lynch, Boyzone singer
1976 – Wanderlei Silva, Brazilian mixed martial artist
1976 – Bobby Skinstad, Springbok rugby player
1977 – David Bowens, American football player
1978 – Mizuki Noguchi, Japanese long-distance runner
1979 – Ludivine Sagnier, French actress
1980 – Olivia Munn, American television hostess
1980 – Bostjan Nachbar, Slovenian basketball player
1980 – Roland Mark Schoeman, South African swimmer
1980 – Harbhajan Singh, Indian cricketer
1980 – Giorgos Theodoridis, Greek footballer
1980 – Melisa Young, American rapper
1981 – Justin Torkildsen, American actor
1982 – Kanika, Indian actress
1983 – Steph Jones, American singer and model
1983 – Matt Papa, Christian Singer-Songwriter
1983 – Edinson Volquez, Dominican baseball player
1984 – Satomi Hanamura, Japanese actress
1984 – Manny Lawson, American football player
1984 – Syed Rasel, Bangladeshi cricketer
1984 – Nicolas Roche, Irish cyclist
1984 – Corey Sevier, Canadian actor
1985 – Dean Cook, English actor
1985 – Minami Keisuke, Japanese singer and actor
1986 – Greg Paulus, American basketball and football player
1987 – Chad Broskey, American actor
1987 – Chris Hunter, American actor
1987 – Sebastian Vettel, German race car driver
1988 – Winston Reid, New Zealand-Danish footballer
1989 – Godfrey Walusimbi, Ugandan footballer
1990 – Bobby Hopkinson, English footballer
1991 – Tomomi Itano, Japanese actress and singer (AKB48)
1991 – Grant Rosenmeyer, American actor
1992 – Nathalia Ramos, Spanish actress and singer
1992 – Molly Sandén, Swedish singer
1992 – Maasa Sudo, Japanese singer (Berryz Kobo)

Deaths

72 – Thomas the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus
458 – Anatolius, patriarch of Constantinople
1570 – Aonio Paleario, Italian humanist
1672 – Francis Willughby, English biologist (b. 1635)
1749 – William Jones, Welsh mathematician (b. 1675)
1778 – Anna Maria Pertl Mozart, mother of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (b. 1720)
1790 – Jean-Baptiste L. Romé de l'Isle, French chemist (b. 1736)
1795 – Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (b. 1714)
1795 – Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and governor of Louisiana (b. 1716)
1809 – Joseph Quesnel, French-Canadian composer and playwright (b. 1746)
1858 – Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, Russian painter (b. 1806)
1863 – George Hull Ward, American general (b. 1826)
1888 – Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1822)
1904 – Theodor Herzl, Austrian Zionist (b. 1860)
1904 – Edouard Beaupré, Canadian giant and strongman (b. 1881)
1908 – Joel Chandler Harris, American writer (b. 1845)
1916 – Hetty Green, American businesswoman (b. 1834)
1918 – Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1844)
1933 – Hipólito Yrigoyen, President of Argentina (b. 1852)
1935 – André Citroën, French automobile pioneer (b. 1878)
1937 – Jacob Schick, American-Canadian electric razor inventor (b. 1877)
1942 – Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, French general (b. 1856)
1954 – Siegfried Handloser, German physician (b. 1895)
1957 – Dolf Luque, Cuban baseball player (b. 1890)
1965 – Trigger, Roy Rogers' horse (b. 1932)
1969 – Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (b. 1942)
1971 – Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (b. 1943)
1977 – Alexander M. Volkov, Russian novelist and mathematician (b. 1891)
1978 – James Daly, American actor (b. 1918)
1979 – Louis Durey, French composer (b. 1888)
1981 – Ross Martin, Polish-American actor (b. 1920)
1985 – Frank Selke, Canadian ice hockey manager (b. 1893)
1986 – Rudy Vallee, American singer (b. 1901)
1989 – Jim Backus, American actor (b. 1913)
1991 – Lê Van Thiêm, Vietnamese mathematician (b. 1918)
1993 – Curly Joe DeRita, American actor and comedian (b. 1909)
1993 – Don Drysdale, American baseball player (b. 1936)
1994 – Lew Hoad, Australian tennis player (b. 1934)
1995 – Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (b. 1928)
1995 – Eddie Mazur, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
1997 – Amado Carrillo Fuentes, Mexican drug lord and leader of the Juárez Cartel (b. 1956)
1998 – Danielle Bunten Berry, American software developer (b. 1949)
1999 – Mark Sandman, American musician (b. 1952)
2000 – Kemal Sunal, Turkish actor (b. 1944)
2001 – Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (b. 1931)
2001 – Johnny Russell, American country singer and songwriter (b. 1940)
2003 – Gaetano Alibrandi, Papal diplomat (b. 1914)
2004 – Andrian Nikolayev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1929)
2005 – Alberto Lattuada, Italian film director (b. 1914)
2005 – Gaylord Nelson, American politician (b. 1916)
2006 – Joseph Goguen, American computer scientist (b. 1941)
2006 – Benjamin Hendrickson, American actor (b. 1950)
2007 – Alice Timander, Swedish dentist (b. 1915)
2007 – Boots Randolph, American saxophonist (b. 1927)
2008 – Ernie Cooksey, English footballer (b. 1980)
2008 – Larry Harmon, American entertainer and TV producer (b. 1925)
2008 – Clive Hornby, English soap actor (Emmerdale) (b. 1944)
2008 – Oliver Schroer, Canadian fiddler and composer (b. 1956)
2009 – John A. Keel, American fortean, television scriptwriter, author of The Mothman Prophecies (b. 1930)
2010 – Abu Daoud, Palestinian terrorist, planner of the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre (b. 1936 or 1937)
2011 – Ali Bahar, Bahraini singer and musician (b. 1960)
2012 – Ben Davidson, American football player (b. 1940)
2012 – Andy Griffith, American actor, director, producer and writer (b. 1926)
2012 – Hugó Gruber, Hungarian actor (b. 1938)
2012 – Yvonne B. Miller, American politician (b. 1934)
2012 – Sergio Pininfarina, Italian automobile designer and politician (b. 1926)